Laboratory drainboard

ABSTRACT

A lightweight laboratory drainboard formed from sheet material includes a hook shaped lip on the upper edge for mounting the board to wall-mounted clips. The board includes rearwardly extending side edges for holding the board in approximate parallel relationship with respect to the wall, and an outwardly extending lower lip to facilitate the drainage of fluids from wet laboratory glassware mounted on pegs affixed to the board. The pegs include stud portions which extend through apertures in the face of the board and collar portions which abut the board on the front surface thereof. Slip nuts slide over the studs from behind the board and abut the rear surface of the board to firmly hold the pegs in place.

[- Dec. 18, 1973 1 LABORATORY DRAINBOARD [75] Inventor: Paul J. Betts, Sr., Muskegon, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Browne Morse Company,

Muskegon, Mich.

[22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1971 {21] Appl. No.: 179,660

[52] US. Cl 211/75, 248/220.5, 248/224 [51] Int. Cl. A47j 5/08 [58] Field of Search 211/32, 35, 72, 75, 211/87; 248/217, 220.5, 304, 475 R, DIG. 3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 776,332 11/1904 Kloeppinger 211/75 3,612,469 10/1971 Dennis 248/475 R 83,884 11/1868 Saurman... 211/87 X 715,563 12/1902 Doublat.... 248/304 X 372,502 11/1887 Udell 211/87 X 252,940 l/l882 Hayden 248/304 3,497,079 2/1970 Kulwiec 248/D1G. 3

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,084,577 7/1954 France 248/D1G. 3

Primary Examiner-William Schultz Att0rneyPrice, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper 5 7 ABSTRACT A lightweight laboratory drainboard formed from sheet material includes a hook shaped lip on the upper edge for mounting the board to wall-mounted clips. The board includes rearwardly extending side edges for holding the board in approximate parallel relationship with respect to the wall, and an outwardly extending lower lip to facilitate the drainage of fluids from wet laboratory glassware mounted on pegs affixed to the board. The pegs include stud portions which extend through apertures in the face of the board and collar portions which abut the board on the front sur face thereof. Slip nuts slide over the studs from behind the board and abut the rear surface of the board to firmly hold the pegs in place.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 1 LABORATORY DliAlNBOARD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In chemical laboratories and other facilities which utilize frequently washed glassware and other articles, drainboard are frequently employed for holding the wet glassware to air dry. Conventional drainboard are made of soap stone, composition stone or other relatively heavy material which is impervious to chemicals and which include apertures drilled therethrough for mounting pegs. Wooden or plastic pegs are glued into these apertures to form a completed drainboard.

One difficulty with this type of drainboard resides in the fact that it is completely assembled during manufacturing and thereby presents a relatively bulky package for shipping. Also, due to the relatively heavy weight of the backing material (i.e., composition stone etc.) conventional drainboard are quite heavy. This, in addition to increasing the shipping costs, makes the mounting of the drainboard on walls or the like relatively difficult. Additionally the necessity of drilling holes through the relatively hard materials and assembling and gluing the pegs therein adds manufacturing costs 'to the pegboards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The drainboard of the present invention, however, is formed from sheet material and is therefore lightweight and provides a less bulky backing material which is much easier to wall mount and remove for cleaning. Likewise, the drainboard of the present invention can be assembled, once received, thereby facilitating its packaging in a thinner package for shipment and further reducing its manufacturing costs. The shipping costs are reduced since the relatively flat board itself can be shipped in one package and the pegs and slip nuts employed to hold the pegs to the board can be packaged in a separate package. Thus, the combined bulk and weight of the individual packages is considerably less than the bulk and weight of a single package necessary to ship a conventional are-manufactured drainboard.

In addition to these advantages, however, the drainboard of the present invention includes a lower lip which extends outwardly from the board to aid in directing liquids draining from the glassware mounted thereon into a sink or the like above which the drainboard can be mounted. If conventional drainboard were wallmounted above a sink, the liquids which drain off wet laboratory glassware or the like would run down the face of the board and drip onto the space between the wall and the edge of the sink where the faucets are located. With the addition of the deflecting lip of the present drainboard, however, the liquid would drain directly into the sink, thereby preventing an accumulation of liquid around the sink.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a lightweight laboratory drainboard which is inexpensive to manufacture and which can be easily shipped.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a laboratory drainboard in prefabricated form which can be assembled upon receipt by the user.

It is finally an object of the present invention to provide a laboratory drainboard which can easily be mounted to a wall or the like and which is easily removable therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the figures, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the drainboard of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the details of mounting a peg in the drainboard, and

FIG. 3 is a broken sectional view showing the mounting arrangement for mounting the drainboard to a wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the figures in detail, it is seen that the drainboard comprises a base member 10 having a front surface 12 and a rear surface 14. The base member is preferably made of 20 gage stainless steel in one embodiment, but could be made from any material which is resistant to rust, water warping and preferably to strong chemicals. The drainboard includes a hook shaped upper portion comprising a rearwardly extending top wall 16 and a downwardly extending flange 18 (FIG. 3) which can be formed by bending the base material rearwardly at angles twice. The drainboard further includes a left side wall 20 and right side wall 22 which can be formed by bending the base material rearwardly at 90 angles on each side. The depth of the side walls 20 and 22 is substantially the same as the depth of the rearwardly extending top wall 16 such that the board can be mounted to a wall in a parallel manner. The drainboard further includes an outwardly extending lip or flange 24 which can be formed by bending the lower edge of the base member 10 forwardly instead of rearwardly. In the preferred embodiment this flange forms a 45 angle with the surface of the base member. Lip 24 causes water to drain into a sink below, rather than onto the counter behind the sink.

The drainboard includes a plurality of pairs of apertures 26 drilled through the surface thereof (FIG. 1) and adapted to receive studded portions 28, 28 of pegs 30 (FIG. 2). The individual pegs 30 molded of polyethylene comprise a collar portion 32 having a front surface 34 and a rear surface 36 which abuts the front surface 12 of the base member 10 of the drainboard when installed as shown in FIG. 2. Two studs 28 and 28' extend rearwardly from the surface 36 of the collar 32 and through the aperture pair 26 in the base member of the drainboard. The pegs 30 are firmly secured to base member 10 by means of a flat slip nut 40 which is placed over the upper stud 28' of the peg 30 until it abuts the rear surface 14 of the base member 10. The slip nut 40 is a conventional type having a serrated inner circumferential surface which deforms when pushed over one of the stud portions to securely hold the peg against the front surface 12 of the drainboard when the nut contacts the rear surface 14 of the board. Although two studs 28 and 28' are incorporated with each peg 30 in the preferred embodiment, in other arrangements it may be necessary only to include a single stud portion. The pegs 30 include an arm 38 projecting upwardly from collar 32 (FIG. 2) on which laboratory glassware such as test tubes, beakers, or the like (not illustrated in the figures) can be mounted. The holding of such laboratory equipment is facilitated by forming the arm portion 38 of the pegs 30 at an upwardly directed angle with respect to the collar 32.

The drainboard can be mounted on a wall or other surface 50, shown in FIG. 3, by means of a clip 52 attached to the wall by means of a screw or bolt 54. The

clip includes a raised portion 56 which defines a slot 58 between the surface of the wall 50 and the raised portion 56 of clip 52. The downwardly extending flange 18 of the drainboard is fitted into slot 58. The board is thereby held in place against the wall by means of the spring action of the clip portion 56 against the downwardly depending portion 18. Additionally, the weight of the drainboard is supported by the clip 52 by means of the contact of the rearwardly depending top wall l6 against the clip 52 as well as the contact of the sides 20 and 22 with the wall 50. The clip 52 may be an elongated clip substantially the width of the base member of the drainboard, or two or more shorter clips can be employed to hold the drainboard on the wall.

It is seen from the above description that the base member 10 can be easily shipped in a relatively flat and lightweight package and the individual pegs 30 and slip nuts 40 can be separately packaged and shipped thereby eliminating the need for a single large and bulky package as is necessary with conventional preassembled laboratory drainboard. The assembly of the drainboard is accomplished by inserting pegs 30 into the base member 10 of the drainboard. It is preferable to make the holes of the hole pairs 26 a different size, corresponding to different sized studs 28 and 28 so as to provide a key arrangement for properly aligning the pegs or aligning them in a particular pattern on the board. In such case the studs 28 and 28 of the peg 30 can be sized such that the peg will fit into a pair of apertures 26 in only one manner. Once the stud portions of the pegs are inserted through the drainboard, a slip nut 40 is inserted over one or both of the protruding studs until it firmly abuts against the rear surface 14 of the drainboard. In this manner, the pegs 30 are sequentially placed on the drainboard in any desired arrangement using all of or as many of the available pegs as desired.

The clip or clips 52 are mounted to wall 50 and base member 10 is then mounted on clips 52. Downwardly extending flange 18 is slipped into the slot 58 defined by the raised portion 56 of clip 52 and wall 50.

In operation, wet glassware is placed on arms 38 of pegs 30. Moisture drains down the front surface 12 of base member 10 and over lip 24. Preferably, base member 10 is positioned above a sink such that moisture draining over lip 24 drains into the sink. No rusting results due to the rust re sistant nature of the material from which base member 10 is constructed.

Of course, it will be understood that the above is merely a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that many changes and alterations can be made thereof without departing from the spirit and broader aspects of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

1. A laboratory drainboard comprising a bendable Sheet m ,m in hg ralitu laaqw s therethrough, said apertures being arranged in aperture pairs; a hook shaped member at the top of said base member formed by bending the top portion of said base member rearwardly and downwardly; rearwardly extending side edges formed by bending the side portions of said base member rearwardly; a forwardly extending flange portion along a bottom edge of said base member formed by bending the bottom portion of said base member forwardly; a plurality of polyethylene molded pegs each comprising a collar having a pair of studs extending therefrom which extend through said apertures in one of said aperture pairs in said base member, and an arm mounted to said collar and extending therefrom in a direction generally opposite that of said stud portion, said arm being adapted to receive laboratory equipment; and securing means for holding said pegs onto said drainboard. 

1. A laboratory drainboard comprising a bendable sheet base member having a plurality of apertures therethrough, said apertures being arranged in aperture pairs; a hook shaped member at the top of said base member formed by bending the top portion of said base member rearwardly and downwardly; rearwardly extending side edges formed by bending the side portions of said base member rearwardly; a forwardly extending flange portion along a bottom edge of said base member formed by bending the bottom portion of said base member forwardly; a plurality of polyethylene molded pegs each comprising a collar having a pair of studs extending therefrom which extend through said apertures in one of said aperture pairs in said base member, and an arm mounted to said collar and extending therefrom in a direction generally opposite that of said stud portion, said arm being adapted to receive laboratory equipment; and securing means for holding said pegs onto said drainboard. 